Welcome to Partner Perspectives, PubMatic’s series showcasing the industry leaders shaping the future of programmatic advertising. In each edition, we highlight innovative partners and customers delivering exceptional results across the industry.
To launch, we’re featuring Local Now, one of the fastest-growing free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services, and a pioneer in making hyperlocal streaming available at a national scale. Local Now is partnering with PubMatic to stand out in a crowded marketplace by blending scale with local-first experiences that resonate with both consumers and advertisers. Through programmatic innovation, they’re solving one of CTV’s biggest challenges: delivering truly local relevance at national scale.
We sat down with Jeff Quandt, VP of Revenue Partnerships, to hear more about Local Now’s origins, vision for the future, and how programmatic partnerships like those with PubMatic help deliver value across local and national markets.
Local Now has carved out a unique space in the FAST ecosystem by delivering local news, weather, and content at a national scale. What was the original vision for Local Now, and how has that evolved?
Local Now was incubated out of The Weather Channel to be a one-stop shop for all things local in all U.S. designated market areas. We have always viewed Local Now as a place where you know you can easily find all the news and information about your community to go about your day. As the platform has evolved and grown to a larger presence on all major OTT platforms, we have added more channels across all genres to the app so viewers can find content on any topic they desire without leaving the app – and as a result have seen viewership skyrocket.
You recently expanded your channel lineup and content offerings. What does that expansion signal about audience appetite for local and niche content?
As the FAST space gets increasingly crowded and competitive, finding your own niche to stand out in the crowd is paramount. There is no platform out there that can offer more unique localized content than Local Now. Combining that with a diverse lineup of unique channels viewers cannot find anywhere else helps us to find and keep viewers coming back to Local Now time and again.
As interest in local streaming grows, what trends are you seeing in how advertisers and content partners engage with Local Now?
Reaching local viewers is always a key goal for all marketers, and Local Now is a great place for them to do that. Buying CTV enables geo-targeted messaging, measurable ROI, and campaign optimization through programmatic buying, which is becoming the norm. As content partners see the scale and performance that Local Now can offer outside of their own distribution channels, being a part of the Local Now dial allows them to build their business even further.
What role does automation or programmatic play in your ad strategy, and how do you balance national vs. local monetization needs?
Programmatic sales are a key part of our monetization strategy. We work very closely with partners such as PubMatic to make sure all our inventory is accessible and sending the correct signals through the programmatic pipes. Working with different partners allows us to tap into both national as well as local budgets. Allowing both advertising types to coexist in our ad breaks enables us to deliver a seamless and relevant ad experience to viewers.
What’s next for Local Now, whether in terms of content strategy, ad innovation, or expanding your footprint?
We are constantly evaluating how to make Local Now more and more relevant and useful to our viewers as we continue to tweak and scale the platform. Our content teams are constantly looking for and signing new channels to make our offering even more unique. Via AI, and other tools, we are also looking into making more hyperlocal content feeds that go deeper than just the market level to be more targeted to viewers. In addition, we are looking to support innovative new ad formats such as pause ads.
The Power of Partnership
Local Now’s journey highlights both the opportunities and challenges of the FAST ecosystem, requiring companies to differentiate through relevance, scale, and innovative monetization. By combining hyperlocal content with diverse entertainment options, they are uniquely positioned to deliver value for consumers, content owners, and advertisers alike.
At PubMatic, we’re proud to support Local Now’s mission by helping make their inventory easily accessible programmatically, enabling seamless campaign delivery for both national and local buyers. Together, we’re building a stronger ecosystem that unlocks better outcomes for advertisers and richer viewing experiences for audiences.
Stay tuned for more Partner Perspectives as we highlight the buyers, publishers, and platforms who are driving growth and innovation with PubMatic.
